Folding leg for furniture



Jami, 3L 13.95%

v. E. JOHNSON FOLDING LEG FOR FURNITURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 19,1948 21 V/czor 6 Job/7500 Jan. 3L W50 v. E. JOHNSON ZAQGMM- FOLDING LEGFOR FURNITURE Filed Aug. 19, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 an/van im- V/cfor A?Johnson Patented Jan. 31, 1950 UNHTED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOLDING LEG.FOR FURNITURE Victor E. Johnson, Royal Oak, Mich.

Application August 19, 1948, Serial No. 45,189

6 Claims. l

The invention relates to improvements in folding legs for tables, beds,cots or other articles of furniture, as well as for any object that isto be supported by one or more legs.

One object of the invention is to provide a sturdy construction which issimple in design and inexpensive to manufacture.

Another object i to provide a means of holding the leg more rigidly thansimilar prior devices when the leg is in its lowered position, and alsoto provide a means of firmly holding the leg in its folded position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent inthe following description and the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of one embodiment of the invention showingthe leg in its lowered position, parts being broken away and in section.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the leg .in its lowered position, thefolded position being shown in broken lines Fig. 3 is a vertical sectiontaken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a second form of the device showing theleg adaptable for use on tubular metal furniture or the like.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on line 6-6 of Fi 5.

Fig. '7 is a side elevation of a third form of the device showing theleg adaptable for use on an angle metal bar of a metal bed spring or thelike.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a fourth form of the device showing theleg adaptable for use on a large table or the like.

Fig. 9 is a side elevation with parts in section of a fifth form of thedevice showing the leg adaptable for use on a card table or the like.

The drawings may be considered as disclosing preferred constructions andwhile they will be specifically described, attention is invited to thepossibility of making variations within the scope of the :invention asclaimed,

In the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. .1, 2and 3,the numeral In denotes a portion of an article of furniture orother object that is to be supported in a horizontal position by one ormore folding legs I I. It may be a side bar or rail of a bed frame tosupport heavy table. :The leg II has a flat upper end I2 from whichprojects a centrally-positioned screw stud I3 to enter an internallyscrew threaded form of tongues I8 which notonly lock the sleeve I6within the casing I! but stop endwise movement of the cylindrical nut I5in its bearing sleeve. The casing [1, which serves to attach the legmounting means to the object I0, is preferably .formed from heavy sheetmetal bent into U-form and comprises aiflat rectangular bottom wall J9from which rises flat, parallel side walls 2i) and 21. The latter areoutturned at their up per ends to form attaching .fianges 22 which abutthe underside .of the bar or rail I B and to which they are secured byscrews 23 Mother fastenings. The length of the "sleeve I6 correspondssubstantially with the length of the U-shaped casing I1 as seen in Fig.1; and the exterior of the sleeve contacts with the bottom I9 and sidewalls 29 and -2I as seen in Figs. 2 and 3. The tongues I8 are integral,rectangular extensions formed centrally on the ends of the bottom wallI9 and they are bent upwardly and inwardly so that their extremitiescontact with the flat ends of the cylindrical nut I5 to hold the latteragainst endwise movement in the sleeve I6. The lower portions 'ofthe'tongues are bent into notches '24 formed in the lower portions ofthe edges of the sleeve I6 to lock the latter in the casing against bothendwise and rotary movements.

The leg it may be variously constructed but as shown is formed of ametal tube in the upper end of which is a'fil-ler plug 25 of hard woodormetal. The lower end of the screw stud 53, which may be threaded orplain, issecured in a central bore in the plug by a transverse pin,rivet or similar fastening 26. The screw stud passes through an arcuateslot '2! formed in the sleeve E6 and an angular slot 28 one half ofwhich. is formed in the bottom wall 19 'and'the other half in the sidewall 2'! of the casing as seen in Fig. 3. The construction is such thatwhen the leg H extends downwardly or in its supporting position and isrotated clockwise, the screw stud I3 will be threaded into the nut !5until the flat end I2 of the leg is forced tightly against the bottomWall IQ .of the casing. That will cause the leg to be'very rigidly heldin its lowered oroperat'ive' position. When the leg is to be moved toits folded position parallel to the length of the bar or object 10, theleg is turned counter-clockwise to thread the stud partially out of thenut until the flat end I2 can clear the corner of the casing formed bythe juncture of the walls l9 and 2!. The leg may then be swung throughan arc of 90 until the flat end of it is opposite the wall 2|, and bythen turning the leg in a clockwise direction its fiat end may be forcedagainst wall 2|, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, to rigidlyhold the leg folded.

in full lines in its lowered position and in dotted lines in its foldedposition.

What is claimed is:

1. A device of the character set forth comprising an outer casing forattachment to a piece of furniture, said casing having a horizontallydisposed bottom wall and a vertically disposed side wall, said bottomand side walls each having a slot, said slots communicating with eachother to form a single slot, a cylindrical nut rotatably disposed withinsaid casing, and a leg having a screw stud fixedly attached to andprojecting The form shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 is par- I ticularlyadapted for use in connection with chairs or seats made from tubularmetal as shown in my pending application, Serial No. 649,174, filedFebruary 21, 1946, for Combination furniture. In this form the leg I Iand the cylindrical nut l5 are the same as in the preferred form, butthe casing H is slightly changed and the bearing sleeve it may or maynot be one of the horizontal tubes of the seat, table or other object tobe supported by the leg. While the sleeve it may be connected to thearticle or object in any way, as shown it forms one of the tubular barsof a seat frame and corresponds to the bar or rail ll! of the firstdescribed form. The casing IT has a fiat bottom wall and upright sidewalls as seen in Fig. 6 but the upper ends of the side walls are curvedinwardly toward each other to fit the top portion of the sleeve l5 inwhich the cylindrical nut is mounted for rotation. Rivets or the like itare passed through the casing and the sleeve or element It at theopposite ends of the cylindrical nut IE to fasten the casing and toserve as stops to prevent endwise movement of the nut. The slots in thesleeve and casing are thesame as in the first form. The operation ofthis form is also the same as will be understood on reference to Fig. 5which shows the leg in its upright operative position in full lines andin its folded position in dotted lines. The form shown in Fig. 7 is thesame as the preferred form except the walls 26 and 2% of the casing llhave their upper ends 22 bent inwardly into overlapping relation so thatthey may be riveted as at 23 to the angle metal bar it of a spring frameof a cot, bed or the like.

The form shown in Fig. 8 is also like the preferred'form with theexception that the walls 26' and 21' are not bent but are extendedupwardly as at 22 to receive between them a bar lil of a heavy table orother object. One or more bolts or similar fastenings 23 may be passedthrough openings in the parts 22 and l to securely fasten the casing i lThe form shown in Fig. 9 is particularly adapted for use on a card tablehaving a light weight top member surrounded by a heavy reinforcing framew composed of rectangular bars. In this form the leg, the nut and thebearing sleeve le are the same as in the preferred form but the casing11 is of right angular shape to close a notch or recess 20 formed alongthe inner lowered edge of the bar It). The bottom 59 of the casing isextended at 22 and secured by a screw or similar fastening 23 to thebottom of bar "3. The slotted Wall 2l is extended upwardly as at 22 andsecured by a screw 23 to the inner side of bar Ill. The parts are soproportioned that the bearing sleeve I6 is held in the recess 2% by thebottom Wall |9 and. the upright wall .H The tongues hold the nut againstendwise movement and also prevent rotary movement of the sleeve. In Fig.9 the leg is shown above its upper end, said stud passing through saidslot and being screwed into said cylindrical nut, said bottom wall ofsaid casing forming a seat for the upper end of said leg when said legis rotated to screw said stud into said nut to hold the leg in avertical position, said side Wall of said casing forming a seat for theupper end of said le when said leg is partially unscrewed from said nut,pivoted to swing said stud through said slot to move said leg to ahorizontal position, and again rotated to screw said stud into said nutto hold said end of said leg against said side wall.

2. In a device of the character set forth, a leg having a flat upper endand a screw stud projecting from the center of said end, a cylindricalnut member having a transversely extending screw threaded bore toreceive said stud, and means for rotatably mounting said member on anobject to be supported by said leg, said means including a bearing inwhich said nut member is rotatably mounted and which has a slot throughwhich said screw stud moves, and a sheet metal attaching casing withinwhich said bearing is positioned, said casing having angularly-related,fiat bottom and side Walls formed with communicating slots through whichsaid screw stud extends, said casing also carrying means to preventendwise movement of said nut member and to fix said bearing and casingagainst 3 jecting from the center of said end, a cylindrical nut memberhaving a transversely extending screw threaded bore to receive saidstud, a cylindrical-bearing sleeve in which said nut member is rotatablymounted and which has an arcuate slotthrough which said screw studmoves, a

sheet metal attaching casing in which said sleeve is positioned andwhich has apertured portions to receive fastenings for attaching it toan object to be supported, said casing having angularlyrelated, fiatbottom and side walls formed with communicating slots through which saidscrew stud extends, and combined stop and fastening means on said casingto prevent 'endwise movement of said nut members in said bearing sleeveand to fasten said sleeve in said casing.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which said bearing sleeve has notches atits ends and said stop, and fastening means consists of tongues formedon the ends of said casing and bent to enter said notches and to alsoengage the ends of said nut member.

5. In a device of the character set forth, a horizontal tubular barforming a part of a piece of.

tubular metal furniture, said bar having an arcuate slot, a cylindricalnut member rotatably mounted in said bar and straddling said slot, asheet metal casing of greater length than said nut member arranged onthe exterior of said bar and formed with a flat bottom wall and an up--right side wall, said walls being formed with communicating slots inalignment. with the slot in said tubular bar, a leg having a flat upperend with a screw stud projecting centrally from said end and passingfreely through said aligned slots and threaded into said nut member andtransverse fastening elements passed through said tubular bar and theend portions of said casing, said elements being positioned at the endsof said nut member to prevent endwise movement of the latter in saidtubular bar.

6. In a device of the character set forth, a horizontal rectangular barforming a part of an object to be supported, said bar having a recess inits lower and inner edge, a right-angular sheet metal casing coveringsaid recess and having apertured portions to receive fastenings forsecuring said casing to the bottom and inner side 6 of said bar, saidcasing having angularly-reiated bottom and side walls formed withcommunicating slots, a cylindrical bearing sleeve positioned within saidcasing and said recess and formed with an arcuate slot in alignment withsaid communicating slots, a cylindrical nut member rotatable in saidbearing sleeve, a leg having afiat upper end and a screw stud projectingcentrally from said end and extending through said aligned slots andthreaded into said nut member, and stop lugs formed on the ends of saidcasing and bent over the ends of said bearing sleeve into engagementwith the ends of said nutimember.

VICTOR-E. JOHNSON.

No references cited.

